In one San Francisco neighborhood, trouble appeared for the newspaper delivery man when his papers started going missing. He started getting calls from upset clients that their paper wasn't being delivered, but he knew full well he had delivered one to their doorstep. Shortly after the calls began, he discovered something completely unexpected. He watched as the neighborhood coyote (郊狼) played with a newspaper on a grassy hillside. He videoed her throwing the paper in the air, sliding down the hillside on it, and running around with pages. It turns out she was repeatedly stealing papers off certain porches (门廊) shortly after he delivered them, just to play!
It's common to hear about residents running into conflicts with urban coyotes in America. Usually it's because of run-ins with pets, or coyotes too close around people in parks or yards. But this time the conflict arises for a more surprising reason.
Rather than getting mad, the delivery man's solution was to throw out a paper just for her, launching it onto the grassy hillside she frequented (常出入于) before she had a chance to bite one from a front porch. She had her morning toy, and he stayed out of trouble with his clients.
I met the delivery man by chance early one morning while watching the coyote, and I listened to his story. To prove its truth — and maintain the morning ritual (惯例) — the delivery man threw a paper out on the grass. Sure enough, the coyote came running down the hill to play with it.
San Francisco's coyotes are only just now being studied, and a small population living in the Presidio has been monitored. Many other cities also have new or ongoing studies of urban coyotes. As the clever animals become permanent residents of cities across the continent, learning more about them is a critical step in finding solutions to coexisting with them. For one newspaper man, at least, that coexistence comes at an affordable price: an extra copy of the daily newspaper.
